Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

; INTERVIEW Dirt trackers Steve Morehead and Terry Poovey e Morehead also ha d a chance to ride for a factory race team - HarleyDavidson 's. " I n 1978, I stood on the box (winner 's podium ) five or six weeks in a row , and that landed me a- factory Harley ride in 1979," recalled Morehead. "Over the years , I've ridden for about eig ht different teams and won races for all of them. They've all been damn good rides, and I'v e learned a little from each of them alo ng th e way." The knowledge that Morehead has accumulated over the years plays a key part in his present race effort. By fielding his o wn machinery, Morehead keeps all of his winnings, rather than having to sp lit them with a bike owner. raci ng this long. Fir st I figured that I'd quit wh en I was 25, then it was 30. . . No w I'm no t reall y sure when I' ll quit. " Right now, I'm mor e dedi cated to raci ng than I have ever been . I think that has something to do with my age, though. When I was younger I could rely on my natural abili ty, but nowadays I have to trai n my butt off," Poo vey said. With over 30 season s between th e two of them, Morehead and Poovey have seen many changes in their sport. " I th ink the sport as a whole is being handled poorly," said Morehead. "We have some of the most exciting racing around, yet our sport is dyin g. That tells me that the people running the soo n no one will be abl e to affo rd to race," said Poov ey." There used to be about 25-30 Nationals a year, but no w there's only 17. Un less you' re getting paid a salary by a factory, you can't afford all tha t time off." " We need more races in each season," agreed Morehead. "There' s too many breaks between each race. T o us, that's like being laid off for weeks at a time. T hat' s the main reason tha t I race my own mo torcycle. . . I can 't afford to sp li t my winnin gs. If there were more races I wo ul dn 't hesitate to ride for someo ne else." On a less-po litical note, bo th veteran s have seen changes on the race track. Ch anges for the better, according to both. Morehead plans io spend time at h ome with h is wife, Cindy, a n d daughter Katie. " I' d say the time that you have to spe nd away from home is th e worst part abo u t raci ng for a living," said Morehead. " But at least I know what I'll do af ter I qui t. We bought a hor se farm a few years back - the sta ble has about 20 stalls, so I guess we'll raise horses. Cindy trains horses, so I figure we're prett y set." Poo vey, on the other hand, ho pes to stay involved in the mo torcycle ind ustry. " I haven 't really thought about what I'll do," he said. " But I kno w that I want to stay involved in raci ng somehow. I'd li ke to sponsor a rider for a Poovey (6) and Morehead (5) were among the American cont ingen t of dirt track ers who tra velled to Italy to participate in the Diesel Jeans short track in December. 26 " Keeping all of my winnings helps o ut a lo t," said Morehead. " I make a pretty co mfor table living raci ng. I' ve never reall y had to work a normal job; all I' ve ever do ne is race. "Things really got a lot better when R.j. Reynolds got involved," added Morehead. " With the money tha t the y put in to racing, p lus th e H arleyDavidson contingencies, it makes it possible for me to make a li ving." L ike More head, Poo vey has also never wor ked a " nor mal" jo b, and feels fortunate that he makes a livi ng doing what he loves. "Some people choose to ·be lawyers, some people choose to be doctors. I choose to be a moto rcycle racer," Poo vey said. " I' m doing wha t I like to do, an d I'm making money a t it, I never really thought that I'd end u p sho w are blowing it, Sure, we were on TV this year, but races televised at 12:30 a.m. on the East Coast don 't do me any good." " I can rememb er wh en we used to get paid when we were on TV," added Poovey. " Now we're payi ng to be on TV. It seems lik e racing expenses continue to go up, but the money that we' re racing for stays the same. If it weren't for Camel getting invo lved, the sport would have died ou t a long time ago. Steve's right, we ha ve the mo st exci ting show on the road, bu t it seems like we're performing for free." " When I won my first National back in 1978 I won $4000," said Morehead . "Then , when I won my 17th National in 1990, I sti ll won only $4000. The purses haven 't gotten any bigger!" "A t the rate th ings are goin g, pretty " T he mo torcycles have gotten faster and the tires are better, so we keep going faster," said Poovey. "Some peo ple say that flat tracking is get ting to be just like roa d racin g, because we don't slide as mu ch. But if faster is better, then our sport must be getting better, right? If slower is better, why don't we take off the brakes and ru n junk tir es? I don't th ink so." " When I started raci ng, the fastest two guys wou ld break away early and settle in to a pa ce," said Moreh ead . " Bu t now , the eq uip ment is so good and the young guys are so aggress ive, that you hav e to race hard the who le race. It 's defin itely mor e com pe titive than it's ever been ." Althou gh reti remen t is not in either rider 's immediate pl ans, both have looked into th eir off-track futures. couple of years. .. I th ink that I have a lot to offer someo ne. I've raced at all the tracks and I kn ow ho w to set up a bike," But for the immediate future, Mor ehead and Poo vey hav e their sig hts set o n th e season opene r in Dayto na, Flor ida, in Mar ch with their goa ls set h igh. " I kn ow that I can still win ," said Poovey. " Bu t it's goi ng to take th e ri gh t prepara tion. A racer 's preparatio n has a lot to do with his luck . Last year I wasn 't ready , but this year wat ch out, 'cause I'm go nna be ready," " I 'm no t going to be satisfied. just making th e show, " said Morehead. " I'm goin g to be in the hunt. " And as no stra ngers to the front of the pack, don 't be surprised to see thes e two "old gu ys" win a few in '92. CI

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